


Another Door Opens

by LostInQueue



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Based on the advent calendar, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Cozy, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Light Angst, Light Smut, Matt and Rey grew up together in foster care but arent related, Matt's a sweetheart, Mostly Fluff, Mountain Ingenuity, Oral, Rey's in love, Scipio is a planet but used as a city here, Snow, Sweetness, Virgin Matt, Virgin Rey, Warm, Winter setting in the mountains, fantasy meets reality, like - very light angst, love and comfort, respectful couple, reydar - Freeform, ski lodge, taking it slow, these are wordy tags, they both are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:22:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21648244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostInQueue/pseuds/LostInQueue
Summary: Matt and Rey knew each other their whole lives. That happens when they're the product of a broken foster care system. No matter the time they spent a part, both Rey and Matt would work their ways back to each other. One day, Rey stumbled upon the concept of an Advent Calendar making it her mission to bring cheer to Matt every year they were together at home.This year Matt screws up, like really, his sarcasm made Rey retreat from him. It's awful! He spends this season doing his best to hide daily doors around her world to give back to her and hopefully regain not only his best friend, but the love of his life.
Relationships: Matt the Radar Technician/Rey (Star Wars)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SavingWhatILove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SavingWhatILove/gifts).



> HUGE thank you to Semperfidani for putting this event together. It has been fun to start this project and I am dying to finish it. 
> 
> Right now I have up to Day 9 but the rest are in progress. Day 10 has been a huge opener for the next chapter. I'm not sure how long this will be but my initial thought was to have the days as cute little drabbles... *side eyes* What stories have I actually succeeded at that with? LOL...
> 
> I am traveling at the end of the week until the 14th though so this is why I'm posting up until the 9th day on my story. It's supposed to be an ode to the day I was given. <3 <3
> 
> *.*.*.*.*
> 
> Next I'd like to thank DarkKnightDarkSide for her help in getting me more comfortable in my mood boarding skills. I really do appreciate your time, and if you have time, readers, please check her works out. 
> 
> *.*.*.*.*
> 
> Also, I wrote this story with Dagagada in mind. We need more Reydar stories. <3
> 
> *.*.*.*.*
> 
> Finally, I hope you enjoy this as much as I've enjoyed writing it so far. :) Happy Holidays Everyone <3

[ ](https://ibb.co/pLQCZ8d)

For as long as Rey could remember, her best friend Matthew Radar was with her. They played just about everything together, except for the girly stuff the other foster kids were into. Although, she was absolutely certain that her best person would play _Pretty Pretty Princess_ with her if she ever asked. Just like he followed her through school and college each teaching into their own majors but inseparable otherwise. It’s what she knew everything about him, including the fact that his apartment is a literal shit hole with no insulation and every winter starting just before Christmas he lives with her until spring. 

Rey smiles at the calendar noting that it’s just about time for their favorite time of year to start. Rey Stars merrily at her phone just waiting for the time to shave off just two more minutes before she could mash the call button, summoning Matthew regardless of the fact that he’s been asleep for the last three and a half hours. This happened every year, whether he was bunking with Armie, Dammy, and Finn while he was a kid or on his own in his apartment, he knew he’d be rung awake. 

Twelve hit and she was already prancing around with her phone, waiting for her friend to pick up. 

“Hullo?” Matthew muffled into his pillow.

“Guess what time it is!” Rey practically squealed. 

“Nighttime?”

“It is certainly morning and you know it!”

Matt squares up to squint at his phone only to see 12:01am staring back at him. His eyes travel in the bright light of his screen up to find the date and confirm they are really ready for starting. 

“Are you sure it’s not November? Like that was just October and now we’re in November?”

“Nope!” Rey pipes, purposely popping the ‘p’.

Matt groans loudly into the speaker making Rey slightly uncomfortable. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Rey asked feeling slightly deflated. 

“Yeah it’s just twelve am…”

“Maker! You’re with someone aren’t you. Oh, my goodness! I am so sorry!” Rey mashed the end button panicking about getting her lifelong friend in trouble. 

It hit her hard though. Matthew moved on from her. He… he... doesn’t need her anymore. 

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

Matt laid back down in bed, reliving Rey’s tone. It was different somehow. Embarrassed, concerned, sad maybe? All the reasons he had to call her back but all morning she refused to answer her phone. 

Perfect. 

The first day of her advent activity usually had them sharing one of those filled candy canes. Which over the years had been harder and harder to want to do because of his taste changes, but he’d do it for her. 

Target’s crowd this morning had been filled with moms walking their rug rats and older people who needed the outing. No one really moved for him or understood why he finally deposited himself in the candy isle like they were giving money away. It didn’t matter though. Only Rey did. He scoured the shelves for the smarty tree shaped candies for her and grabbed any ol’ one for him. He knew he could go anyway for those but totally preferred the skittle ones. 

Once they were in hand, he raced around people to get to the check out and back to her place before she left for work. If she got to work before he reached her, he wouldn’t find her. Especially not now after that how _that_ call ended.

Matt’s lungs heaved trying to keep up with his movements up the stairs to her apartment. His mind raced trying to remember what she did throughout the day, when he could see her if she wasn’t home. There had to be some way - something he could do. He shoved his hand into his back pocket to retrieve his phone only to drop it on the sidewalk. It wasn’t enough that the fall split his screen in three, his huge stride lunges forward at another running step to kick the thing forward and into the road like a cartoon character. Luckily it happened to be a one way - and luckier still just missed the street drain grate. 

Oh, that could have been bad.

Maybe it was a sign that he could fix this. 

Maybe Rey would be there, and she’d think this whole thing was just a laugh they could get over.

Maybe he’d tell her how he really felt…

Nah… 

That would mean she’d get away...but she is away…

Matt groaned, “Why can’t this be easy?!” He brushed off gravel from his phone, checked it over slightly promising himself he would take another look later - when he had time, and slid it back into his pocket. 

Hopping in his step a second, Matt took off up the stairs to her floor then all the way down the hall to her door. 

“Rey?” He called, pounding on her door. “Rey??” 

No answer. 

“Come onnnnn…” he battled through whispers like he had when he was a child. “I knew I’d miss you...dammit!”

. . . 

It took all morning...ALL MORNING to figure out her floor by lunch time. Rey like her friends, Matt rolls his eyes at friends because there were just so many, followed each other into servicing rooms at the local lodge. Lodge… Matthew snorts, that place is like a log cabin castle nestled up in the wealthiest ski resort in the area. Living in Scipio meant working in it as well. It truly meant nearly no commute, and that they worked for the community, making sure guests were treated like royalty. Failure to comply - working somewhere else meant the town could make said residents suffer, which is why he hasn’t been able to move out or upgrade his living space. And forget that offer from Rey about moving in… because… well… he didn’t need her to think less of him even though he’s sure she’d never be _quite that_ way with him.

Matt made his way through the floor, his palm sweating while he clutched onto those candy canisters as he went. Each swing of his arm alerted the next room service employee. Carts he’d find made him hit the high of excitement and the low of failing every time he found one of her friends instead of Rey.

“Hey!” He hissed into the next room, “ssst! Rose? You in there?” Against his better judgement, he went in to check only to frighten the girl. Soap and toiletries flew from her hands like fireworks, but unlike Rey who respected the amenities, Rose armed herself with two mugs and began throwing them. “God, Rose! Stop!” He threw out his hands dropping both canes to the floor with a loud rattling sound crashing at his feet. 

“What the hell, Matt?!” Rose popped her buds out of her ears, some loud thumping music seemed to pour out of her speakers.

Of course, he can’t help himself, nodding at her choice music, “So, Christmas not your thing?”

“That’s what you’re leading with? Not an answer or an apology?”

“Okay, sorry…”

“Sorry?” her eyes widened waiting for him to finish his sentence.

“Sorry I almost gave you a pretend heart attack,” his eyes widened at the choice of words. Was he this dumb around Rey? 

“Ugh… I would have also accepted, sorry for making you piss yourself; sorry for making you throw company porcelain at me; and oh, my personal favorite, not giving a real apology.” Rose looked down for a moment then back up at him, “Are you in trouble, Matty?”

“I think so,” he flinched at the sound they made when he picked them up. “I made a joke this morning about our thing,” his eyes grew wide suggesting what the candy was for, “and now I can’t find her - anywhere.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” the girl snorted. “You’re on the wrong floor…”

That sent Matt on a wild goose chase. He’d been on every floor, down to maintenance, out back by where skiers and snowboarders get geared up, to the kitchen and back again only to find out from the same girl that Rey was sent home early. 

“They said she didn’t look good. Pail. Whatever she’s got, I don’t want it,” Rose snorted. “I have plans for Christmas if ya catch my drift.”

\-----

Being home half day sucks. 

No one is home. 

The lodge, besides being with Matt, is her favorite place to be and even they noticed she was off. She did her best to think back to what she could have gotten and from where when she notices Matt’s calling again for the fortieth time today. It was fine. He didn’t have to explain. He’s his own person, right? It’s not like Rey could change his mind anyway. 

Matt’s crowd was unusually beautiful. The people that would hang around him, whether he noticed them or not, were attractive. Far more than what she considered herself. 

Why would my best friend ever choose a girl like me? 

Just hearing those words - that question in her head as it came out made her shiver. Was she jealous? 

No....

Yes….

Rey covered her face with her hands. 

She liked Matt. She was there for him. When they were kids, she’d seek him out, she’d know just what he needed too. Rey remembers getting into all sorts of trouble just to hear him laugh. She smirked at the thought of his handsome smile, the way he always looked down and then back up before he would crack. The best of times, Matt would snort, while the worst of times he’d pull her in instead of pushing her out - no matter how upset he was. 

It’s exactly why this hurt so much. 

He found someone else that made him happy. 

The corners of her mouth fell to the floor while she explored what this loss meant to her. Rey batted away thoughts of sorrow and tried holding onto his happiness, whoever this girl was, he deserved her. He deserved to be happy. 

But why couldn’t she really find joy for him?

The day faded into dusk cooling the apartment despite the seemingly thousands of times she smashed the up arrow to increase the warmth. While the thermostat said eighty-two it certainly felt like half that as she allowed her sorrow to cool her core. 

At this time of night at this time of year, she would have already been staging the second surprise, followed by finishing off her list of days and… well… this year just couldn’t be the same. His news drained her furthering her need to know what she should have done differently to gain his interest. Each time she allowed the thought, she frowned at them, reminding herself that she wasn’t like those people. She didn’t have it in herself to throw herself at him like they do in those romance films Rose liked to watch. 

No, she had to be herself. That’s all she had and all she knew, and well… if Matt didn’t like her for that, she couldn’t help but sniffle ending her forward thought altogether. 

. . . 

It had been hours since she fell asleep at her kitchen table, her face peeling off of the wicker charger she had set underneath a paper towel holding her toast, leaving a weaved pattern in her cheek. Seeing the toast still in front of her was a good thing too granted she wasn’t totally sure if she killed the mouse or not. The little booger made off with her cinnamon roll while she’d been awake too. It’s how she knew the rodent was in there in the first place. 

Truthfully, she blamed Dammy for the fact it’d been released into the wild in a way to get Armie to stop feeding his pet the vile creatures. Of course, it didn’t work. She could have told Dammy that, but the man just does not listen. 

_Knock, Knock._

_Speak of the devil,_ she groaned.

“I am not helping you find your snake, Dammy.”

“Snake?” The question came muffled through the door. 

Rey croaked, “You know how I feel about that thing...I don't want it to touch me,” she whined. 

“Rey? Please just open the door,” the man’s voice pleaded to which Rey groaned, pushing her chair from the kitchen table out from it as her legs could go without dropping her sagging upper body off of the table. 

Eventually she pushed herself up off of the table, her arms dropping heavily at either side like an ape. The message her body was sending was clear, her loss had driven her to this state, and even though he could be happy, finally, it was tearing her apart. Each step towards the door felt like a mile weighted down by cement shoes, but when she got there all she could do was rest her head against the thick wood frame. 

“What do you want, Dammy?” she asked thinking no one should really see her right now. 

“It’s not Poe,” the voice cracked behind the door. “Please, Rey, it’s Matt. Please open up. I’ve been searching for you all day.”

Rey blinked back tears fighting with whether she could live with him seeing how broken up she’d been over his happiness. That would be horrible. He’d be so mad, she thought. 

“I dunno Matt, I think I’m sick,” she answered with a fake cough. 

“That’s never stopped you before,” his voice sounded high for a statement as if he meant it as a question.

It was true, she’d seek him out even if either one of them was sick. The worst decision was during her bout with the chicken pocks but having him there to help itch her back was a freaking blessing.

“Are you sure?”

“Rey, it’s me. When have I ever not wanted to see you?” he asked. 

With that she nodded to herself, her hands trembling as she opened the door. Each turned over lock made her flinch, being that it was one less task before he’d see her, but the moment she opened it to him all the air in her lungs rushed out all at once. 

He looked just as distorted. 

_What did that hoe do to him?_

“Jesus, Rey!” Matt whisper shouted his concern. “What happened to you?” He surged through the doorway gathering her in his arms. He turned a second to shove the door shut and her body went helplessly like a rag doll along with him. His thick frame kept her safe though… so safe, so safe it was alright to let go here. He could know, but how could she say it without being childish? The fact of the matter was that she was desperately in love with him. The thought of someone just coming along and picking him out like candy at a store had her beside herself. 

But he… he looked utterly destroyed. 

“W-What about y-you?” her hand moved up from where he secured her against him to cup his cheek. “What did that awful woman do to you?”

Matt’s body went ridged. 

Shit. 

That was not what she wanted to say but there it is! Her eyes wander from him trying to create space even though she’s not ready to move. 

“What woman?” Matt’s brow furrowed. 

“The, well, the one you were with this morning… you know when I called… and I - you don’t have to tell me about it. I mean, so long as she’s good to you and all. But you look like you’ve been through hell all day…”

“...looking for you.” Matt interrupted. 

“W-What? Why would you be looking for me if you found someone already?”

Matt only shook his head, his sweaty curls plastered on his forehead finally coming into view. 

“I wasn’t with someone. How could I be when the only person I’ve ever cared about is right here in my arms?” he said, battling with the highs and lows in his speech. 

“You care about me? Like?” Rey couldn’t help the way she felt tilting her head back to finally look at him.

“Like that crappy song from the nineties,” Matt paused for effect, “I don’t wanna live without you…”

Rey blew raspberries at his poor rendition of it but felt lighter in so many ways. Her Matt was hers. Or at least that’s what it sounded like.

“I’m sorry about today…” she finally said. “We don’t have to do the calendar this year if you don’t want to.”

“Oh, sweetheart. I want to,” he cupped her cheek in his hand, “but please, let me do it this year? You deserve so much more than a few candies and sledding passes,” to which Rey frowns, asking what he means.

“You’ll just have to wait and see then,” he says trying desperately to mask his words, but Rey was nearly positive he called her ‘baby’. 

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

It was abnormal for Rey to work on Sunday, but one of her girls needed the time off with her hubby, and Rey simply couldn’t refuse her friend. They had each other’s backs unlike any other kids she knew at school and was sure that Kay would make it up to her in some way. 

It didn’t exactly matter to her though being in the great mood she woke up to. Matt held her long into the night. They sat and watched Netflix and tossed cards in a hat, like they did when they were younger. 

She felt whole again, like there wouldn’t ever be another blasted figment of her imagination threatening her claim on her guy. 

But were they a thing or a just friend? 

Being a thing sounded nice. It sounded comfortable. Safe… snuggly… warm…

Rey shook her head to clear it.

They weren’t…

She wrapped up her morning activities, dumping dishes in the sink, got dressed, grabbed her stuff and ran out the door. While she worked in this winter wonderland, and everyone she knew drove fine in it, Rey did not. Her confidence soared elsewhere… and so she looked down at the salt encrusted boots one last time to be sure they were tied just right, shimmied slightly in her thigh length puffy coat and made her way for the lobby.

Something about it was off though. It was an obvious thing. The door had been wrapped in red, the center covered in a bow far bigger than it should have been. 

What was she talking about? 

When was this normal? 

Rey cautiously walked up to it finding a big black two on a white tag confusing her further. The building number wasn’t two it was 819. Her brow furrowed more as she tried to let it go and just leave, opening it to see Matt leaning against his silver Durango waiting just outside. Who knew how long he’d been there since the man’s cheeks and nose always colored in the blink of an eye in the cold? But seeing him there this morning set her heart a flutter.

“Good morning,” she said, and he returned her greeting. 

“I thought you might like a ride in.”

“That would be amazing,” she grinned. Because it would be, not only for the fact that she won’t lose her boot or get a falling clump of snow down her back on third and Main like she does daily. Re scowls inwardly at that tree and swears it had it out for her. 

“Oh, and I got you a hot chocolate… kept the marshmallows on the side,” he started to trail becoming shy at the mention.

“You remembered,” she smiled back at him. “I do that because they taste better after the milk cools the drink…” 

“After the milk cools the drink,” they say in unison.

Rey can’t help the way she feels, this spark between them crackles and all she wants to do is lean in and kiss him but stops herself.

“Thank you, Matthew,” she looks up at him under her long lashes instead. “This is really sweet.”

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

The next day she doesn’t know how he’s managed to do it, but her attention is drawn to a red gift-wrapped cabinet door under her sink. While smaller than the door yesterday, it maintains its same layout with a silver bow and white card with a bold, black number three on it. 

Rey can’t help but smirk at it, then open the door. 

The thing out of place is a Dust buster she knows she didn’t own. She frowns at the gesture and texts Matt. 

[ Rey ]

Why is there a handheld vacuum under my sink?

[ Matt ]

You’re always complaining about the stuff in the corner you can’t get. Remember all that glitter last year? I figured this would make it easier. 

Rey frowned remembering just how much Rose thought was *enough*. Remnants of that project lasted her all year. Neither her vacuum nor her broom could pick it up leaving her to sit on the floor with the hand broom and try brushing it up like she was at some archeological dig site.

A handheld vacuum might actually do the trick, she thought. It was certainly worth a try, and to her delight Matt had it charged the night before. What a good man… she blushed at the thought.

Matt was her friend… surely, he was meant for someone else, and so she kept that thought tucked away. 

[ Matt ]

Did you try it yet? Does it work?

Rey moved to try it in the three-inch space between her garbage can and the refrigerator. Switching on the button made the machine roar to life. It’s tiny motor certainly had the gusto of one of the shop vacs at work exciting her in a way she couldn't explain. 

She reached down to try working through the mixture of colors found there and up it went! Relief washed over her in a way she never thought a vacuum of all things would do, but it did!

[ Rey ] 

It sucks in the most amazing way! Thank you! <3 <3

[](https://imgbb.com/)

When Rey woke the next morning, she started looking for the red wrapped doors, even scanned her room wishing he was hiding behind one of her closet doors just to wake up in the same place like they did when they were kids at the orphanage. Gods, how that word stung every time she thought about it, but they had each other, she reminds herself. They were the reason that didn’t suck as it could have. 

There, however, was no wrapped door there. It made her wonder where it could be today only to find it in her kitchen again. This time it was her cereal cabinet. 

“What is it today Matt?” She smirked, looking through that particular cabinet. 

Though, nothing stood out on its own. 

Maybe he meant to do something and forgot, she thought, reaching for her go to granola cereal. Her fingers wrap around the side of the box tightly, surprised at the weight as she picks it up. 

“What the hell?” she whines.

[ Rey ] 

Why did you fill my cereal box with M&Ms?

[ Matt ] 

(m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) 

So, you could have a sweet day :)

(m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) 

His message made her grin but couldn’t think of a time they did that to each other over the years. What if he truly wanted her? She studied the message before replying.

[ Rey ]

Having you in my life is the only sweetness I need. 

Gods, she was going down for that. 

And yet, all he could do was tell her he was thinking of her with those three dots signifying that he was writing. It remained that way, on and off… all day…

What did she do?

[](https://imgbb.com/)

Rey found herself paying extra attention at night, looking for changes before she slept, but to no avail, she never found the next surprise until the morning.

December fifth, she woke up to the sound of Matt’s text. 

Three dots on the screen formulated as three typed dots in his message which didn’t help at all. That is, until she looked back at her nightstand. Red paper wrapped around her journal’s cover, the bow and number five alerted her to it being the next thing. 

There Matt carried on with his dots.

_Rey,_

_I figured it’d be best if I left this in writing. Not in an informal text, not to run the risk of being forgotten, but written in one of your most important places… your journal. Well… our journal._

It was true. They shared everything there. Past homes. What went wrong… of everyone she knew, Matt knew her the best.

_I thought of how to reply all day but couldn’t bring myself to send it._

_Rey, you have to know you’re the most important person in my life. I’ve never needed anyone, not even parents the way I’ve needed you. You’re always, always there, and always, always on my mind. I’ll always give you my attention. I’ll always be there when you need me...I’ll never push you out, because well… you’re everything to me._

_I hope you know that._

_Yours always,_

_Matthew_

Rey couldn’t help the tears that pricked the corners of her eyes or how she cradled the book to her chest and snuggled back into bed.

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

Feeling a little overwhelmed by yesterday’s note, Rey found herself forgetting to look around the apartment for a little red door. Overwhelmed isn’t the feeling, she knows this. No, her feelings had gone into overdrive. There was so much packed in that short message that her insides hummed with the possibility of more. But what if that wasn’t what he meant by being “everything” to him?

Rey glances at her phone all day but nothing came from Matt. In fact, it was hard to resist texting him, but she was told not to until she found his door, and well, it was three and she still did not find it. 

“Hey, Rey?” Kay called from her overloaded cart. 

“Yeah?” Rey rushed out of her current room, the sheets of the bed sprinting back over its corner as she went. “Something the matter, Kay?”

“I’m in 422. Whoever this idiot is either got taken advantage of or is loaded,” she hollered. 

Rey knew these types. Most of the clientele were these types of higher-level CEO character types that had no brain or a huge ego to make up for what they lacked. She rolled her eyes at the thought. 

“You need anything?” she asked. 

“Yeah, actually. Can you take my cart down and I’ll take yours to handle this monstrosity?” 

“I don’t see what’s in it for you,” she replied. 

“Well if you’re quick, a bottle of something - ew! Ew, ew, ew, ew! Huungh I’m gonna throw up…”

“Don’t be such a baby,” Rey snorts, then squeals as she dodges a flying sack of sorts. “What! Did you touch that?!”

“I forked it!” Kay leaned her hip against the door frame showing her handy new tool to which Rey could only gag.

“Omg that was a…”

“Yep and there’s like a box or two in here along with the entire kitchen’s worth of room service dishes. Listen, I don’t want to know what happened, unless he’s hot…”

“So, this cart? Take the whole thing?” 

“Yep, empty it. I’ll text you if I need more than your cart.”

Making her way to and down the elevator, Rey did her best not to let the thought of some swinger loose in the resort, but then again, weren’t they all? Although, up until now, she hadn’t _seen_ such a mess and hoped she’d never have to again. 

The ping and abrupt stop rattled her from her thoughts and down to the ground floor. Right in front of her was the hall that lead her to the kitchen where she finally found the red wrapped door. Rey laughed before pushing her way through and muttering, “you really have something about kitchens, don’t you?” not expecting to be heard by anyone. Especially not Matt.

“I do,” we’re his words. The rumble found there made her jump and sent chills down her spine at the same time. 

“Matt?” she asked, turning to face him. “Why are you dressed like that?”

His usual attire had been anything he could put khaki cargo pants with, but this afternoon he was fully decked out in a chef’s coat and hat. 

“I thought it might be fun to make cookies.”

“You know,” she looks everywhere but at him because well, how can she? He looks like a damn snacc all wrapped up in a uniform that clearly doesn’t fit him well. “We could have made cookies at home.”

His shallow gasp _was_ telling calling her eyes to fly back to his while her grip remained on the cart. She was going to fall over if he made another sound like that. 

Matt, though, was the best at reining himself back in, calming he only got this space because Dameron hosted it. 

“Dammy’s here? I thought he was —“

“In the city with his own restaurant. Yeah, but I had to come up with something outside of your place. You know. To see if you were still paying attention and all,” he teased. 

“Don’t be silly, Matt,” she started, her hands left the cart to wring her sleeves. “You’ve always had my attention.” It came out far breathier than it should have but it was true, and every word she spoke while looking at that man made it sound more like a whisper. 

Matt dropped the whisk he’d been toying with to cover the corner of the table they’d be working at to round it quickly without walking into it. Once he made it around there, his feet picked up their pace into a controlled jog of sorts. Rey could feel something new here. Something special, that surge of electric between them again. His hand reached out to cover hers. 

“Please tell me what I…”

“Hey guys!” Poe surged in from the back. “You would not believe the traffic this place provides. Like I tell ya, I have a better chance of jumping from a lift like the squirrels do.” The man had a voice like silk and clearly didn’t mind continuing around any space. He went on and on about other ways to make it here while Matt stood only inches from Rey, his eyes begging her for what she wondered. 

He told her she was everything in writing. Today his body language screamed that and more, and she was helpless to think about herself and her needs. 

“So I took the liberty to bake them myself because Rey, I remember those chocolate cookies that wound up tasting like burnt cardboard coffee pucks, and every other fire you started at home, so it just made more sense to do it for you.”

The two of them frowned at each other, breaking the spell for a moment. 

“I did not start fires,” she said defending herself. 

“You sure as hell did. I remember a certain somebody that thought it was safe to cook on the rungs,” Poe continued. 

Yes, that happened. But how was she to know it wasn’t an indoor grill? It had rungs and a cover… and let’s not forget that it’s the thing she learned how to cook on… so…

“I vaguely remember this truth,” Matt agreed unable to hide his amusement: 

“How vaguely?” Rey challenged.

“Vaguely,” Matt mouthed slowly, stirring her up all over again. 

“If you two love birds are finished…” Poe started teasing them as he’d been known to do. “We’ve got some cookies that need icing!”

Playing with Matt and reminiscing with Poe while she should have been working had its perks. Rey saved all of the little sounds and signs of interest he had shown throughout the afternoon for later. They imprinted on her mind in such a way she felt as though she had her own slideshow of them every time she blinked. 

Rey actually tried on the first couple of cookies but then one broke and she needed to taste it. Matt’s cookie tower fell apart and she needed to taste his too. For icing reasons, she assured herself. It wasn’t that itch just under her tongue telling her to taste him. That wasn’t it at all. Certainly not. But when Dammy would turn Matt would reach out his thick fingers, pinching a morsel at a time, holding it just closely enough to her parted lips feed her. She told herself it was all in her head and that he wasn’t lingering at her lips just to touch them, because, well, romantic things like that never happened to her. They only happened in fairytales. 

By the end of the experience, Rey left with Matt by her side, both covered in icing, crumbs and sprinkles, groaning about eating too much. 

“What do you think about ordering a pizza?” Matt offered, trying to clear their pallet.

“How about closer to dinner? Or past it? Or tomorrow. Tomorrow is good.” Rey promised.

“Sounds like a date,” Matt blushed as he said it. “A pizza date.” 

Rey hummed at the sound of that in agreement.

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

Rey’s morning was hit with an undeniable high having had the time to start putting it together. Maybe meaning everything to Matt was exactly what she needed… exactly what he meant. He’d been as friendly as he had been her whole life with her, but the small touches, glances, and numerous times she’d heard his breath catch made her bubbly. It didn't help much that now she was on constant watch now for these little moments wondering if this is what she did to him for all those years. 

She remembers back to the morning she’d decided to start this with him, sneaking into the boy’s room, climbing the side of the bed so that turd Armie wouldn’t grab her ankles on the ladder. He’d since grown up into a nice mature guy, but his actions made never wanting to climb a ladder more reasonable, even if her co-workers couldn’t understand her fear. Once up on the end of his bed she’d be careful of his usual curled position, crawled around him and put her face on his pillow to tap his shoulder until the boy woke up. 

Living in a group home made it hard to do an activity with one person and only one person. Some kids stayed to themselves, but not Rose, Dammy, Finn or Armie. The four of them liked following Matt and her around, which was fun - most of the time. However, this was sacred. This was between her and her bestie. 

At the time they started with sugar cubes hidden on the top shelf of the pantry. They were so good and melted in her mouth in just the most satisfying way that she had to share it with him. Matt had to know she would make sure she shared every important thing she learned about or could get to on her own with him. He deserved nothing less. That is, because the boy would stand up for her on the regular. She was a scrawny little thing that people teased for her tom-boy qualities. He always seemed to know when she was down on herself or curious about what others had to say, promising that they had no idea what they were missing out on. 

Matt deserved the world -- no, the galaxy for the way he made her feel.

That was it! Rey felt explosive with an energy she couldn’t name quite past excitement. She was going to make sure he felt just as special throughout his turn running the show and she was going to enjoy every last moment of it.

No sooner did she round the courtyard in front of the lodge did she lay her eyes on the eighth door. Well, he tried to make a door, and it showed. Instead he hung red wrapping paper on a line, creating a curtain of sorts, calling her to sit inside the photo booth. 

She takes a breath settling her nerves, then a step forward to reach for the curtain to see who else but Matthew inside. 

“Surprise,” he said with a smile, his big brown eyes melting her far further than he had over the past week, looked back at her. It was a silent invitation, one she wouldn’t pass up, not ever. 

Words formed in her head but never made it to her lips. Instead she found her way into the tiny booth, settling beside him. 

“Remember when we were kids and you’d bring that silly fake camera around with you saying ‘click-click’ every time you wanted to hold onto something?”

“Yeah?” she answered nervously.

“Well, I figured, maybe, we could start here…”

Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

We…

“Okay,” she whispered sitting far closer to him than she’d ever felt before. Heck, she’d lay across the boys like it was nothing, but in the last few days he made her feel like they could be something. 

Matt leaned forward; his eyes still focused on hers as he reached to flick the switch on the machine. He’d set it on a ten second automatic cycle, sure to catch subtle changes in their body language. The slightest smiles that spread wide between them, her sparkling eyes matching his own. It caught the way she reached for him, stroked his cheek and dipped her head before looking back up into his. 

“I can’t believe you’ve done this for me,” she said, the camera catching the way she searched his eyes. 

“I’d do anything for you. You know that, don’t you?” Matt licked his lips, easing the dryness found there. 

Rey’s heart leapt in her throat once more at the sound of his words. It was natural, so fulfilling to lean in closer still, her hand bearing the weight of his cheek against her palm. She was ready, dying for the taste of him, the pull of his arms around her waist, it was all she could imagine. 

The camera caught it all… everything from their almost kiss to three little kids all under seven scrambling to get inside. Red paper flew in on top of them acting as something like a shield between the bodies enough for Rey to remember herself.

“S-sorry,” she lifted her fingertips from his jaw tentatively while the little party crashes stormed her castle. 

Matt’s eyes widened but still looked so distant, so lost that when Rey moved to sit up and leave, he’d forgotten to tell her to grab their memories. 

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

All day Rey had been reliving Matt’s moments, more so now than ever before. She had been so close… so close she could smell his minty breath, the peach fuzz on his chin which made her wonder if he could even grow a beard. It had been the only question the leveled her out between dying for the chance to be that close to him again and needing to feel his lips against hers. 

Friday had been far more difficult to function. Her brain haze had her walking into walls, unable to turn her cart without banging it against the wall and at the very worst of it, found herself in the basement.

Storage - she called it storage - but it didn’t change the fact that it was truly a scary old basement. Despite being in this chilly climate, the lodge was warm and always provided shelter for cave crickets. These huge bugs looked like spiders and were brazen little bastards, ready to jump at their predators to scare them off. It worked plenty well for her, teaching the girl not to get too close to the walls at any given chance. The bottom line was, the basement was scary, and used for staff members who couldn’t get it together.

That was the understatement of the year: 

She couldn’t get it together. 

Not one bit. 

At the end of her shift, Rey clocked out, keenly aware that she did not find the door today. There were only a little more than seven hours of the day left, four of which she was hoping to sleep through. That literally only gave her an hour to eat and search the town or hopefully run into Matt before she gave up the night.

Speak of the devil…

If it isn’t Matt staring off into the sea of people struggling to stand on the ice, she rolled her eyes and slid on the pavement. Who needs a rink when this place _was_ a rink? Rey’s arms flailed and feet crossed and spread to regain her balance. Just when she thought she might fall, a pair of warm hands steadied her, Matt…

Both of them stood nose to nose, a single galaxy rose pressed between them. 

“Thank you…” she breathed, to which Matt could only nod.

“I - I brought you t-this?” he tried to get his response under control, looking down briefly at the item there.

Her eyes reluctantly followed his down to the glittering delicate rose between them. Galaxy roses were known in their city for being given at weddings, they signified longevity, love, and loyalty. How on earth he happened to get one is beyond her, but Matt was truly doing something for her she couldn’t believe as it was. 

“It’s beautiful, Matthew,” she paused.

“But?”

“No but,” she shakes her head. “Is this why I couldn’t find a door?”

Matt grinned when her fingers closed around the stem. 

“No, no… that still in the field.”

“Can you take me to it? Be my guide?”

“Yes,” his eyes glittered as the rose did allowing her to hook her arm with his as they headed right for it.

“Matt,” Rey’s eyes widened when she saw the ice rink and heard the announcer speak over the crowd that couples skate would last all hour. “We don’t have to - it’s -we’re…” her eyes searched his.

“If you want to, I mean.”

Rey’s smile began to stretch, “Are you asking me out?” She could feel her heart race and her cheeks burn after asking the question. Was that what this was? Did he feel it too? The pull between them?

Matt blushed too but didn’t turn away. His eyes were locked on hers, feeding on her every emotion. 

“I am,” he said, his shoulders seemed to tighten up closer to his frame, bracing himself for her answer, at least that’s what she thought. “Do you? Rey, do you,” he swallowed thickly, “do you want to be mine? My girlfriend, I mean? I don’t mean I’d own you—“

Rey closed the space between them. The air stilled in a way she was sure time stopped too. It was only them in that moment. Nothing else mattered, not the people passing by, not the beautiful rose held in her other hand, just reaching for him. Rey’s fingertips met his cheek clumsily, but he hadn’t moved to make a joke, only leaned into her palm pressing a reassuring kiss into her palm, before she captured them with her own. His cracked lips bit into her soft ones with every move but Rey had been too happy to care. 

He was here. 

He was hers.

And this was real.

Feeling his strong arms pull her yet closer still, Rey sighed in appreciation against his mouth. A much-needed pause, entirely for air alone, had bother of them looking at the other in awe. Warmth bubbled in her chest; her heart pounded furiously calling her hunger for him into focus. She could feel herself trying to remind them that they were in a public place, but everything else told her to go for it. 

And yet she felt the need to ask, his forehead still resting against hers, “We’re really doing this?” 

“The skating?” Matt asked. 

Rey shook her head no, “Dating.”

Matt grinned goofily, “So long as you want me, I’m yours.”

Rey squeezed him tighter still.

“Is that a—“

“Make no mistake about this, Matthew,” she confirmed in his ear, “I’ll always want you in my life. You’re my person.”

“Your person?”

“My person. You know, my guy, my man… my hero,” she began to mumble. “You make me smile when no one else can. I’ve always hated being apart from you. Gods,” she sighed against his parted lips, “I thought, I thought you were with someone earlier this month and I - I couldn’t handle the thought of it, Matthew.... I guess I always considered you mine.”

She felt him, rather than saw how he lunged forward to take her, his body shivering against hers but not from the cold. Surely not… his kiss felt like nothing she’d ever dreamed she’d experience. She felt his needs, his wants, and when the whistles began and mothers huffing at their show of affection around them, he slowed. Softly breaking from her to agree, “We’re really doing this,” to which she smiled just as he did, lingering there several minutes too long.

“Speaking of, did you really want to skate?” she asked knowing full well her guy was just about as graceful as she was on it, which was the kind way of admitting neither of them would make it much past the door. 

“Only if you do,” he smirked. 

“Well, I wouldn’t want to say no to your gift idea, now would I?

Matt could only snort through his laughter. She knew he wanted out, but oh no, that wasn’t an option. He suggested it, so it was time to go for it. 

“You never have,” he agreed.

“Let’s make a deal,” she said, to which he nodded. “We make it around at least once and then we can go to the arcade and play ski ball and air hockey.”

Matt lifted his eyebrow not totally understanding her link to that. 

“They’re cold sounding games, Matt. Ski for ski ball and hockey is honestly the closest thing I could come up with to skating,” she grinned. 

Her conversation started snowballed from there. They’d gone off to get their ice skates, wobbled along the path back to their red wrapped door where the two of them sighed and opened it, ready for the challenge, together. Rey tried taking normal steps while Matt tried for tip toeing, neither making it much further than three feet from the door without clutching their arms around the side of the wall. 

Time was lost on them, and cheers had been made the moment they made the first turn. It seemed that people were rooting them on as they lapped them. Rey tried but there was no time for conversation as this took such thought and core determination to keep picking each other up that the time for talking would be on solid - dry ground. 

The pair spent most of their time wrapped around the other, Rey’s arms around Matt’s waist with her head pressed against his back. Other times had them on the ice in vicarious positions for a two person dogpile. Matt would impress her even when he’d run in place to try to keep on two feet, but the absolute best had been each and every time he tried to break her fall on the way down. It was as if he knew she was going down before she actually fell. Several times he had made mention to being thankful for his belt that day and was certain suspenders would have fared better considering her efforts to pants him while falling around turn four. As the couple made it around to the door, the two of them panted and clawed at the wall in desperation to leave the icy oval, each promising the other snacks at their place instead of going around again.

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

Saturdays were always a crap shoot considering how often one of the girls called in “sick” to be taken from the roster. This one though had Rey off for the night. No calls, no one begging her to take their shift… it was like everyone could figure out how to just be that night, which made spending a whole lazy day with Matt all the more wonderful. 

Usually they would run their errands together or chill with their friends passing time as if they had so much to spend. Now, however, now being Matt’s girl, Rey began having nervous energy spells. The girl could not sit around for anything. She couldn’t help feeling the need to fidget with her fingers, or be up and doing something, or worrying over him, what he thought, if he wanted something, until the lump he was moved to smother her. Matt’s huge frame tumbled like jello around her, draping himself over her until she stopped. 

“Ugh! Matt… what are you, oof, doing?” she complained.

“Fixing this.”

“Fixing?”

“Us,” Matt knew what to say even though it sounded ridiculous to him to have to fix them - they just started after all.

“Us? There’s something wrong?” Rey closed her eyes. This is exactly why she didn’t want to let herself do this in the first place. She couldn’t handle being rejected by him. He’d been the only guy that she truly cared for. The only one that knew her as he did… how could there be something wrong already?

“Well, you won’t sit down, for one. My Rey sits with me…” He shifted slightly to curl himself around her. “My Rey can relax like one of the guys and I love it… you eat what you want, you can crop dust like Armie - that I’ll take less of,” Matt nuzzled his nose in the nape of her neck sending shivers right through her. “And she’s going to do it or I’m not getting up, not even if you have to pee.”  
  
“What if I go on you?” she grimaced at the thought. 

“Then we’ll clean up, but don’t expect me to let you go that easily. If I have to jellyfish, you - I will.”

Jelly fishing isn’t anything like that weird under the sea show with the yellow rectangular sponge and all of his sea friends. No, jelly fishing is when either of them would put their body on the other and hang their entire dead weight off of them allowing their extremities to dangle. It really only ever worked when Matt would throw her over his shoulder, but now, when he went for it today, he’d positioned himself just right that she would never be able to get up. Not with him on her at least. Had it been anyone else, she was sure that she’d been able to get up, but Matt proved to be far too large to maneuver. 

He had laid on her for long enough to stop blood flow down her arms making her fingers pay for it. She was being weird. That was true...but Rey never let anyone that close to her. Ever. Not like Matthew. At least with him she knew before they’d kissed that all was right as long as he was near, and now? Now she was just scared. 

Having only two choices by now, lose her arm completely or agree he’s right came immediately. 

“Yes! Okay, yes!”  
  
“Yes what?”

“You’re right, now get off you’re crushing my lungs!”

Matt sat up slowly, keeping his eyes locked on hers. “We can’t be having that. Especially since you haven't found today’s door. 

“You couldn’t have possibly put up a door, Matt,” she said calmly. “You’ve been with me all day.”

“And? I thought you knew me, Rey,” he grinned at her surprise. “I’m far more resourceful than you know.”

“Is that so?” she scoffed.

“It is…” he agreed. One hand supported him on the floor while the other dragged over her hip, rubbing the small circles into her flesh. 

The feel of him there, still caging her in such a way made her shiver in anticipation. He’d already made it their thing; the way he’d tell her how he cared or wanted her undivided attention. She knew to look up into his eyes to watch them darken, it was their language, the way she knew to let go. And when she did - oh - when she did, she’d been rewarded.

Matthew’s rewards started out small and sweet which included chocolate kisses, not the candy, but enjoying the taste of him with lingering hints of her favorite flavor. His kisses hadn’t gone much past that making her wonder what he was saving himself for, but each one of them left her breathlessly whole. 

The move to his feet caught her completely off guard though. Up she went with him as though she had been as light as a doll, and yet he hadn’t stopped there. Her body had been hoisted over his shoulder to move them both toward her door. 

“Wait!” she squealed. “I’m not dressed, Matthew.”

She was. She just wasn’t in her off-day jeans. Instead she had found her pajamas had been right up her alley in terms of her go to comfort the night before, and cuddles were her only plan of activity all day. Why on earth would she need to get dressed? 

“You are so,” he snorted. “Maybe just grab a jacket.”

“And shoes?”

“Fine shoes,” he agreed plopping her down for a moment. “Now don't go running off without me,” Matt warned. 

“And why would I want to go and do a thing like that?” she asked to which he hummed but didn’t return with an answer. Instead, he gathered her up in his arms and proceeded to whisk her away into the night. 

Being tucked in Matthew’s arms made her feel safe and warm no matter how terribly cold it was that night. Their trek through the plowed mounds at the corners of the streets and avoidances of the slick spaces on the sidewalks had them cracking jokes about ice skating and how the other might just be alright with having another go at it… after their bruises faded, of course. 

Both Matt and Rey had been so far into their conversation that neither realized their path up the side of the mountain had begun. The city of Scipio had been on to this for years in the making, knowing full well that enclosing a scenic path to the lift would pull more travelers towards their lodges and activities upwards and in toward the mountain range themselves. Up there they catered to all ages, all skill types, and certainly all depths of pockets. Profit didn't know discrimination, not in Scipio, even if it _was_ a luxurious place to stay. The path up to the lifts had been a wide, carpeted, heated space, decorated with the natural feel of the land, except of course, with the fluorescent lighting overhead and the thick window paneling every ten feet or so. 

“C’mon,” he said, quickening his steps up to the sliding doors. “If we don’t get there, we’ll have to wait another twenty minutes before it comes back.”

“Oh no, I can’t imagine how we could spend that…” Rey said under her breath. 

“Don’t get smart with me,” he teased. “I worked hard on this, remember?”

“Mhmm, all day while we ‘watched’ cartoons,” she rolled her eyes at him. 

“Hmm? Don’t trust my methods, do you?” he began to crowd her to the side of the sliding door, just where the stone met the glass. 

Just the way he’d said it, half playing, half hurt, made her heart lurch in such an odd way. She felt the need to soothe him mixed with another need to tease. Rey wanted the comfort with the humor, the...the… physical closeness of it all she could practically already sense against her, but the moment she’d allowed the sensation to take over, he’d scooped her up once more to make it the handful of steps out to his surprise. 

Door nine floated down towards them on a grassy green and silver trimmed enclosed gondola lift that seated twelve at a time but had been reserved only for them. 

“You got us a private ride above the mountains?” she breathed.

“You gave me the idea.”

“When did I say anything about this?” she asked him as they stepped up to the loading dock and into the car. Rey held the pole in the center of the car tightly as Matt boarded behind her. 

“When we were kids. You even mentioned the color, do you remember what you said?” 

Rey blinked and shook her head. 

“Scipio’s covered in ice and snow for most of the year, it would only make sense for the cab to be brightly colored….”

“In case of a snowstorm or if it fell,” Rey’s eyes widened. “But we were like seven, when I said that.”

“You were seven, I was thirteen.”

“I can’t believe you remember all of that…”

“Hmm,” he agreed. “But I’d like to remember more…”

It was another call to him; one she would always be attuned to. 

“And what could you possibly want to know more about?” Rey gasped the moment he’d descended on to her, his lips parted as hers did giving him immediate access to her.

Rey’s grasp around the bar soon shifted from holding it to practically clawing at him to pull him to her unabashed by the gawking crowd they left behind. As her fingers made their way through his thick, messy curls anchoring her to him, she’d hoisted her leg high over his hip unwilling to break their kiss. 

Matt could only groan, hum his interest, and rock his hardening length against her core. His hands roamed over her body testing her sweet spots as he went. His girl was vocal, that much he knew in this uncharted place. Rey’s moans, sighs, and promises were always captured by his mouth. Swallowed her as if she were a delicacy… or at least that’s how she felt while he took everything she had to give. 

It… this… if it was anyone else, she wouldn’t have allowed herself to fall, not like this anyway. Rey couldn’t help but love the way that thin bar felt against her back while she ground back against him. She’d been the first to break the seal their lips made to beg for him right then and there.

“But what if I want to take my time with you?” he purred. 

“There will always be time Matt,” she said as she secured her arms around his shoulders to wrap her other leg around his waist. A gasp caught in her throat when their car hit the first checkpoint bringing them further into the mountains. 

Riding at night gave it a romantic appeal. Guests could star gaze, watch the waves of green, purple and pink northern lights dance around them too. Snow would fall from the sky and blow about the mountain even as they journeyed further into it. Scipio’s rich history was on full display here, not for the wealth but for their original ingenuity. The founders, drawn to the unique peaks and deep but narrow valleys saw this place as an investment, first mining the raw materials from the region itself and then carving the stone from the body itself which is now a gateway into a winter wonderland children can only dream about. 

It should have caught her eye, but Matt was all she could see, his chest heaving each time her lips would part at the feel of his broad tip straining through the tent in his pants. 

“I love you,” she let slip. “You’ll always have my time. I’ll-I’ll always give it to you… y-you, ah,” Rey shuddered through another harder stroke thanks to the slight sway before the next gear point that slung them down and through the mountain. Matthew took her cue following the calls of her own arousal until she gripped him far tighter than she ever had only to muffle her scream into his chest. 

Light flooded the cabin as they approached the inside of the hollowed-out mountain. In it now were levels of shops, fancy restaurants, lodging on the other side, all of which were filled with people. It dawned on her that her man, given their list crazed moment had controlled himself. He knew this was here. He knew people could potentially see them and still, well he… he, she felt him beneath her, hard and aching, the veins in his neck straining to pump blood back to his head, she was sure of it.

“Matt?” she whispered, “It’s okay if, if you want to go home. You know, so I can take care of…”

“Hmm,” he answered, shifting them just so to work her off the pole and into the seat in front of them. “Don’t get me wrong baby, but I believe you promised me all of your time…” to which Rey smiled lazily. Her head rested first against the cold glass, then back to him, agreeing that she did. “And for love like that, I thought maybe you’d like to spend more of it up here, with me.”

Just passed the mountain had been more, all uniquely designed in themes of mountainous cultures complete with huge ornate doorways allowing travel by small aircraft or helicopter for emergencies, all other travel, however, was meant to be done by the lifts. Rey could feel herself slipping. Her energy fading while she cuddled into his arms taking it all in.

“Stay awake baby,” he whispered in her ear, “it’s nearly time.”

“It’s late Matthew,” she whispered. “What could it possibly be time for?”

“Your next door…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doors 10 -15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I feel like an ass letting this go for so long, but after traveling in December and then this COVID era *sigh* and the perils of being a parent to my whole family...I have totally dropped the ball at updates. 
> 
> This was put on hold for a love scene that I wasn’t sure of but— being trapped with no electricity and no internet connection, I was taken back to my WIPs, wandering around like a kid in a candy store. Sooooo here I am doing my best to give you what I can before life goes nuts again. 💖

——-

At the stroke of midnight, their gondola ride stopped at the very end of the line, dropping them off at an unimpressive stone gateway. Well, unassuming, rather. It was impressive at the sure size of it, but far less ornate as the others making her wonder just where Matthew brought them to in their pajamas. 

“In hindsight,” his voice rumbled in his chest, “I should have probably let you get dressed.”

With that the cold met them fiercely when the doors opened. Being deep in the mountains now, there wasn’t much to keep them warm except for each other until they made it into the archway. There it was faintly lit with medium sized LED bulbs clustered together in a way to produce the concept of a golden flame which she thought to be odd given the obvious need of heat here. Her eyes trained on each pit trying to figure them out, what their purpose actually was, only to be guided into a stone cove set in darkness. 

There they were met with an unseen warmth. Large, thick heavy coats that were lined with sheep’s wool from the village below, hung low, far past their feet. Even Matthew’s were covered, she noticed. They looked almost like monks, the ones she’d seen in books at school at least. Were they even real? Rey didn’t know, but if they were, they were certainly living well if their coats provided the same warmth these did.    
  
Matt reached behind him pulling up a large hood up over his head first, and Rey couldn’t help but mimic him in unison. He seemed… well… he seemed different here. There was something about this place that made him unrealistically calm. Rey was sure of it. 

“You’ve been here before?” she asked, to which he hushed her with a soundless shh. 

“I have.”

Matt’s eyes glinted even in the soft light behind him. There was a force here other than him helping guide her eye around the room in a way she hadn’t thought to when they were shivering out in the cold. Here in the darkness, in the warmth of their coats and his presence, she can now see. 

A faint blue light enters the cave from behind him, lightly ficking over the natural stone in this cove, showing her that there must have been hundreds of coats upon racks here. Why didnt she see that before? Would she have if she hadn’t been so focused on him?

Another thought crossed her mind after taking in the significance here. This wasn’t a small place just for her like the treats he’d shared with her up until this point. This was far different. Her eyes stayed wide, taking in this new place even though they had not stepped beyond where he guided her.

“How long have we lived here, Matthew? Our whole lives? And I’ve never once heard of this place?”

“It’s been here for years, Rey,” he answered, following her towards the entrance. 

The walls around them eventually changed from the stone to a glassy texture. Large brick forms, she assumed were faux or filled in plastics for safety created the transition from where they were, out into the mountain. Her hand stretched past the long hem of her sleeve to feel it herself, only to find it  _ had  _ felt like ice. True ice… which would mean they came from the mountain, well the valley below. There would have been no way she would have seen construction for this. No way to know it was here. She thought about Matt and how he didnt work in town and how poorly the city of Scipio treated him because of it. Rey looked at this place in both pain and wonder. Scipio had no true idea of what many of the workers that happened to be out of town could do and her heart hurt because of it. He didnt deserve it. Not at all. He deserved so much more. 

“You worked on this?” she breathed her question. 

Matt nodded slightly waiting for her to remember. 

“We,” she stopped as her view changed revealing an ice palace. One only they knew about, well, one they knew about initially that is. The two of them were always coming up with their dream houses that usually turned into playgrounds and she never knew why. It was wide as it was tall, protected by yet another carved out mountain, looking like a jewel within her rock. Rey gasped, “All of those times we thought people were taking our ideas, Matt? That was you? Who? How did you...” Rey’s questions trailed when she turned back to him.

“As it turns out, my boss happened to like them. As time went on, I was pulled in for bigger projects and when it was time, I pitched it to them, and there we were ready to break ground the next day. It gave the people work,” he gestured with his hand as if she knew where to look at the villages below, “money. They were able to provide for themselves and families with the labor and they’ll be taken care of for life for allowing a select few to come to visit daily.” Matt paused to let her take it all in. 

It was a lovely idea, she mused, then wondered about things as they did when they were younger. Matt, as he was now, would come up with the plans to make her ideas structurally sound, which at times could be extremely frustrating. But back then, they were kids, trying to come up with the next greatest thing. Now, Rey could only wonder about small things, asking how they could be allowed such trust by the locals to take the chance and change their lands. He had enlightened her throughout her interests, holding her close as they talked, finally coming back to the fact that only a few had been let in at a time. 

“Safety, mostly. People come from all over and because of it, we try to educate them about this space, it’s people, and it’s land. It's delicate, even if it’s reinforced up here in the mountain. I want people who visit to know that this structure is more than a castle. That it gives a certain level of clarity for those who respect it,” Matthew whispered as if to tell her it represented far more to him.

“I respect you,” Rey whispered her return while she listened to him.

“I know you do, Rey,” Matthew leaned down to kiss her, their combined joy to have the other mirrored their partner. Matt’s long, strong arms pulled Rey to him and Rey flung her arms around his shoulders slapping the extra fabric of her coat against him as she went. Both laughed against the other’s lips, struggling to keep hold of the other thanks to all that was keeping them warm and safe.

“Later,” Matt sighed as Rey did at his release. His hands worked the rolled section of her sleeve before Rey found herself asking yet another question. 

“Why are there so many coats if only a few come in?” she quirked her eyebrow at him. 

“These,” he looked at the sleeve down his arm where his hand found her own. “These are years in the making, and selling one can take care of a single family for months at a time here. They’ve made other items that adorn the rooms here too including blankets for those that stay overnight. Although not much can be said about wanting to sleep on a solid block of ice.”

“So you’ve been?” she laughed then grimaced at what that could mean. 

“Yes, I’ve been. This was my first project, well, first on my own. The only one I ever wanted more than a career itself,” Matt guided her around the small courtyard where fragile looking crystal foliage filled the land on one side leading them to a large frosted bridge that crossed a deep divide between the mountains themselves. It reminded her of the glacial documentaries far to the north. There the world still seemed new. Blue shadows danced around thickened boulders falling to darkness for what seemed to be miles down beneath them. 

“An-and this is safe?” Rey asked, tentatively placing her foot on the bridge before her.

“More so than you could know.”

“Try me? I meant that more like a statement but, I -I need to know that I’m not going to” she gasped and looked over the edge. “That we aren’t going to fall off the s-side.”

“If you walk in the center, you couldn’t possibly fall off the bridge,” Matt teased her. 

“Ha-ha,” she rolled her eyes at him, startling only when he moved to sit at the edge of the bridge. “Matt!” She howled pulling at his shoulders. She’d been hard and forceful about it in such a way that she even found fear there. “Don’t joke about things like that!” Rey couldn’t help but want to cry when he’d smiled at her. “It’s not funny!” she rushed out, then squealed on her way down to him. 

Matt’s strong arms steadied her lying by his side. “Shh,” he guided her attention to where he pointed, first to the break between the mountains, letting the light in. “It’s cold here, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she said blinking back the hurt she felt.

“Colder than my apartment, and all of the homes that never loved us,” he said, the sting of which burned them both. 

“Right,” Rey nodded. 

“But the cold is just a temperature. A necessary one to keep this place sturdy and strong.” 

Now she was sure he didn’t know how to link it back to them, even if he originally had a point, Matt couldn’t always cycle back.

“It’s dark right? Down below?” Rey’s answer came in a mewl of sorts agreeing with the unease it gave her. “It had gripped you, right? Made you feel like you couldn’t do this?”

“Uh huh.”

“Did you even remotely notice the light around it?” 

“What?”

“Did you happen to see where the bridge was secured?”

“No?” Rey began to sit up slowly to look over the edge, only to see a glimpse of her guy’s phone go hurtling between the ornate rungs that weave themselves around the railing and back down to the body of the bridge and up again. “Wait, Matt!”

While she expected the thing to fall thousands of feet to its death the clunk of plastic to ice had been far sooner than she would have thought. It took no time at all, actually, confusing her further. 

“This was one of our plans, remember? To make it so no one could really fall to their deaths? It’s not like the tire fort where I fell out and broke my arm… this is way different. Can’t be having lawsuits popping up all over the place, or,” Matt groaned trying to stuff his body through the small space between the bars. “Or losing their phones.  _ Maker, we cannot be having that!” _

Rey bubbled up with laughter. No, they could not be having guests lose their phones. That would be a tragedy! One lost hers in a pillow case at the lodge which had her apologizing to every deity she swore at while searching the floor. 

“Agreed, we certainly cannot be doing that,” she grinned, clapping her hands softly together, careful not to create waves of damage, again, while remembering the cartoons they used to watch. 

“It is strange,” she added, following Matt’s lead. 

“The vertigo?”

“Well, yes. I mean, how many people have you fooled here?”

His grin only grew. 

“More than half of them have truly had an issue which had a guide ‘use the force’ with the help of the surrounding folks to chant, ‘do or do not, there is no try,’ until their phone had been fished out of the cavern’s underbelly.”

Rey’s smile flatlined along with her eyebrows as he finished, interrupting with a stone faced response. “You made that up.”

“I didn’t, I swear,” he promised while he led her past the bridge and into the first archway. 

Their crystal palace was exactly that, complete with both natural and artificial light, the beautifully made castle called her back to some of her softest, most cherished moments. Rey made sure to comment on every last design detail making her guy blush at every turn. 

“It’s absolutely fantastic,” she gushed as they finally made it up the stairs to one of the many master suites. Besides not having the ability to give these rooms en-suite for the purpose of heat it could create alone, they had been an absolute dream to walk through. 

The floors were frosted ice, similar to the walls that separated them from the other guests. A full bed made from the same materials their coats had been created in wrapped the simple mattresses there. A table made of ice sat to the side of the room which held an ice sculpture of sorts. It was certainly whimsical like her doodles. Delicate, thin, and seemed to shimmer any way she looked at it, similar to the way the light fixture that hung above them had. This feature had been strung with LED lights too which was absolutely breathtaking. As her gaze drifted higher, the northern lights had been able to shine through the expertly cut ceilings, flicking highlights of purple and green through their special space. 

“You think so?” Matt sounded like he let go of a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. 

“Have you any idea what you’ve done? You made our dreams come true,” she whispered. 

Matt could only smile shyly at her complement. 

“You know what this means, don’t you?” she added and he shook his head curiously. “It means we can do anything together,” her cheeriness flip flopped back and forth from happiness to what she claimed were happy tears. 

“It sure does, being that you love me and all.”

Matt’s eyes sparkled as hers did when she moved to push his hood from him, her closeness rekindled the slight embarrassment of her slip up but it had soon been rectified. Matt knew… he knows… has he known all along? 

“I do,” she agreed. “I have for so long. I just… never thought it would be us.”

“But it is. And I’m glad for it, Rey. We have something no one can touch,” he said wiping a stray tear from her cheek. “We have a history that goes so far back - an understanding of each other that no one can match. I love you, Rey, more than you could know,” he said, the corners of his mouth quirked up and fell trying to control the raw emotion that took over. 

“It’s okay, Matthew,” she whispered. “I feel it too. The intensity of finally being able to tell you… it’s an enormous feeling. One I can’t describe… one I always want to feel with you.”

Not a word had been released instead she heard him gasp, then his lips crashed down against hers. Their teeth clashed against each other as the two struggled against their need, a rhythm had been forgotten while Rey did her best to devour her man before her. His hands matched her own traveling from the side of her face down her neck to her shoulders, all the way down her back to pull her closer. Despite the layers between them, Rey could feel his want, his need, and as magical as this place truly was, she worried about how the cold would affect going further.

Matthew, however, didn’t seem to mind, and so she followed his lead. 

Their pace slowed, becoming less frantic as he moved with her back towards their bedding. They may have been only paces from it before Matthew stopped completely, a quiet squeak sounded between them as he released the seal of their lips. 

“This place is ours. This room, I mean. No one else will ever be in it. It’s here for you if you ever want to get away…”

Rey licked her lips, still holding her place close to his. “Why - why would I have any reason to need to be away? I have you, don’t I? What more could I need?” she asked, silencing him once more, their kisses remained shallow, while she listened to him decide if he’d like to speak through them or not. She could feel his leg extend forward pressing just between hers, parting her just enough for her to recognize the direction he’d like to take her in next. Letting her hands cascade down his back from where she held him, warming briefly under the billowing sleeves, she found the courage to slip her hands between the spaces in his long coat. The wool there had been a spectacular blend of softness she never associated with the material which made her hands ache to hold it, to needing to lay bare to her man on the makeshift mattress behind her. 

If only she could tell him. Rey thought she did in the lift, and yet he told her he wanted to take it slow. How  _ slow _ was slow? She found herself fizzling out, her mind searching for things she hardly believed she needed and struggled to let go of in order to please her guy in the process. Her fingers traveled where her mind could not, finding him there, she’d gone too low, Rey thought, while she met his hardening length tenting under his coat. Her wandering mind soon caught fire. She wondered if he had been hiding himself from her this whole time. She wondered if they needed the coats at all, if it had been warmer there than he had led her to believe. Soon she found herself dropping to her knees before him, humming softly to herself as the folded layers of her coat cushioned her knees from the thick ice floor. 

Rey’s intentions had been fully known the moment she looked up at him. Matthew’s eyes had grown wide but darker as the seconds blew by. He nodded his head ever so slightly and parted his lips in anticipation. Her doe eyes peering back up at him made him shudder deeply. The bite of the cold had been alarming, making Matt gasp at first which Rey smirked softly at. Then it was the warmth of her tongue that made him moan deeply. Her eyes rolled back into her head at the sound of him, her body pleaded for it to guide her through his pleasure. Rey focused her sights on him, watching him disappear into her mouth, her lips just barely reaching the fabric of his coat, but gods did she want to. She could take him if she tried. 

His eyes were trained on hers, only flicking to her mouth the moment he’d realized what she’d been trying to do. 

“You d-don’t hav-have too,” he tried to tell her. His voice hoarse while he spoke to her. 

Gasps and moans licked the air above her while his body rocked thrusting shallowly in her mouth as she took him. He hissed while his head bumped her cheek or grazed her teeth, making absolutely sure he never swore at her which made her truly feel him. 

It must have been the raw power she had over him that pushed her further. Feeling emboldened by him she took his velvety hardness further into her mouth, humming softly as she felt warmth behind her head, his sleeve caging her in such a way she wasn’t sure what was coming. The shelter there had been nice though. Folds in her coat formed at her shoulders just under his fingers while he begged her for a rhythm. One that she could just barely follow but revealed in the sheer thought that he’d been enjoying himself. 

Rey did her best to pick up the pace on him, his length stroke her nice and easy, in and out, thrust after thrust until his hips began to stutter. His pumps were laced with promises he uttered to her, how well he’d take care of her, how well she was doing. He muttered filthier things that made her want to take him all down the back of her throat and suck him dry but before she could he pulled out, turning away from her entirely to finish on his own.

Matt sung his release in a baritone hum while his seed fell onto their private floor. 

Rey remained on her knees wondering what it was she’d done wrong. Not being able to keep the raw emotion from her a moment longer, she sniffled, calling her man back to her. 

“Hey, hey…” he soothed. “What happened? What’s the matter?”

“What’d I do wrong? I thought… I thought you liked it…if you didn’t you sure gave the wrong impression…” Rey

“What?” Matt’s confusion crept in then hit him all at once, “No,  _ no… sweetheart.  _ Please don’t think that… baby, I just wanted to respect you is all. I can’t imagine wanting to swallow  _ that… _ ” he trailed, tucking his length back in before lowering himself to the floor where she sat misty eyed over his denial. She felt the warmth of his embrace wrap around her in a way she hadn’t felt before. Sure, Rey always felt safe with Matt, but this hug was different, securing her through her deepest fears of rejection. 

He hummed at their closeness, nuzzling at the nape of her neck like a puppy. His whisper broke just below her ear, soft and sweet as he always was, “You’d really do anything for me, wouldn’t you?” 

Rey nodded slowly, agreeing, “Yes, I would.”

Matt made another sound, it was something more like a whimper, which was not at all what she expected, but understood instead. 

“I want to take care of you too, but not here, not this time. Not hurried… I want to cherish you, Rey, like you deserve to be.”

She couldn’t help the tears that slid down her cheeks. He hadn’t rejected her. He loved her and she could feel it now more than ever.

Matt stood up, pulled her in close to hold her one last time in this space before offering a nice way to warm up at his place, “C’mon sweetheart. Let’s go home.”

  
  


___

11 door

——-

Their night concluded like a dream as to where Rey woke up in her bed wondering if Matt slept over or had gone home. Her apartment had been warm and quiet, not even the snow outside her window had blown against it making any sound at all. The very thought that none of it was real crossed her mind and yet she didn’t pursue the need to find out if the castle was in fact real. Lies never surrounded her guy, not even if they were just dreams. There was a truth that followed him. One she was always proud to know. 

That place was real. 

He was real. 

What they experienced together was too. 

Somehow, deep down, she knew it but hated the idea of being left.

He could have stayed. Why didn’t he stay? How did she get home and in bed without keeping him there?

Rey’s alarm clock stirred her from her thoughts, her questions following her as she moved through her apartment. Memories of how the northern lights danced over the ice returned to her in full force while she got ready for work. It had been an effortless motion through time, but here, in the depths of her thoughts, Rey misplaced not only her phone, but her keys as well. 

“Mondays,” Rey groaned, running through the remainder of her apartment looking for her keys the most. 

By the time she made it to her kitchen to look for them there, she’d found a tall white and red, diagonally striped mug sitting on top of a natural coaster block that looked like Matt sawed it off of the leaning evergreen out back. The fresh scent of chopped wood called her over closer, spying what she thought might be today’s treat. 

Peering over the lip of the mug, Rey smiled when she’d found her phone and keys inside adorned with a sweet little note from her guy. 

——-

“ _ I’m nothing without you, _

_ Your love makes me soar, _

_ Be with me forever _

_ I’ll always need more… _

_ There’s homemade hot chocolate in the microwave waiting for you. See you after work?  _

_ Love, Matty _

_ PS: You still snore in your sleep.  _

—-

She snorted at that last part. Yes, she’d been known to and yes, it was embarrassing for years but in this moment it only made her smile. 

He didn’t leave her. 

She knows that now. 

Well, he  _ did _ but not like that.

A smile came to her lips at the thought of never really being left again. Matt was always by her side in everything they did, even when they’d be apart in other homes, they’d still be pulled together. And now? Well, now they’d never have to worry about love since they had it. 

Rey’s morning went just the same as any, keeping her eye out for the red wrapped door only to find it on her way home. Well, sort of. This one hadn’t had a number that was telling for the day, but the red foil door made her curious. It was a good thing she checked because the little woman that had run the establishment must have had it with calling attention to herself. She huffed and moved around the crowded space expecting people to know how to move or more importantly who she was. She’d been old enough to get away with pushing people’s backs with her strong yet bony fingers.

People moved around her like bending blades of grass moving for some spring rodent. While Scipio’s spring and summer never amounted to much more than a few blue ice cap flora around the most southern falls, it wasnt to say that she hadn’t seen them out and about in the spring in other rural areas to the far west. Her mind flashes her back to the scene before her until she sees where the old woman perches herself, grumbling for anyone within earshot. She moves tentatively towards her when she feels a hand at her back. 

Rey jumped out of her skin for a moment then realized who had her. 

“Don’t - you gotta not do that to me!” she squealed.

Matt’s arms wound around her, grinning widely until the frames of his large glasses slid down his nose. Rey happened to shimmy at least one arm free to help him reposition them on his face. 

“So, why are we here?” she asked curiously.

“I could ask you the same,” he asked smuggly.

“You mean this wasn’t,”

“Nope,” Matt interrupted. 

“But the door.”

“It’s red all year round.”

“Not wrapped in foil…” Rey protested. 

“It’s a metal door, meant to keep the cold out. Lots of homes have them to the north,” he teased her. “You know, except for the ones that live in apartments…”

“Don’t shame my wooden door…”

“I wouldnt dare.” Matt’s arms felt like weight against her, far heavier than they were before when he held her. 

Rey’s smile tightened while she wondered what he meant by that -- the man always seemed to hold a double meaning to things, especially her things.

“So, where’s the door then?” 

“Didn’t you find it this morning? I assume you did, considering you found your keys and phone…”

“No? I-- wait, the… the mug? That was the door?” Rey’s eyes searched around the small space between them trying to figure out where it could have been. 

“The,” they spoke at the same time, Matt first and Rey a fraction behind him as they used to when they were kids. “Chocolate…. Bar…”

“OH! Matt! I wasnt even thinking! I- it was wrapped in foil and had a bow. All day long I’d been searching and I thought, I thought you left me -- like more than just for the day… like I dreamed the night before up...and,” her eyes dropped to where they were still connected in the overcrowded shop. 

“What about the night before?” he whispered in her ear low enough for only her to hear.

“How magical it was. How incredible you are. I’ve never felt the kind of love that surged through me that night. I’ll always hold it with me, just like every other moment we’ve ever shared.”

Rey can't remember how they made it back to her apartment but there they were rushing through the door, locking it dutifully, only to peel one another from their clothing. It’d happened so fast she couldn't help the pants that had left her lungs only to fill with half the breath she needed before. 

“Anywhere,” she hurried out, knowing full well her body was going to explode if she didn’t feel him. 

She couldn’t take anymore waiting. All his small touches, promising more only to be stopped by their surroundings was enough now. She needed him now, and being in their own private space she beg him if that’s what he needed. She’d be so good…

His labored breathing seemed to match her own. His form chased hers with every intention to take what she’d been offering. 

“I need you,” she whispered against his lips. 

“ _ Oh _ ,” Matt groaned, scooping her up into his arms and splitting her legs just far enough to let him in. 

His long, hard length slotted perfectly against her core the sensation push her into overdrive, making Rey throw back her head. That stupid wall behind her made it sound worse than it was but Matt has the decency not to laugh. Instead he kept his mind on that perfect place between her thighs where no one else can find him but her. 

“Say that again,” he rasped. “Tell me you need me. Tell me that you’ll always be mine,” she felt his hold on her tighten at her waist then the press of him to her core, how he desperately felt like he was barely holding on. 

“ _ Ah, Matt… please,” _ she whined desperately, pushing the last of her garments to the side and begging him for entry. 

Matt sucked in a breath at the feel of her fingers grazing his erection and Rey found she absolutely loved that sound. 

“Tell me, please,” he replied in a shaky breath, like a man about to break.

“I’ve always been yours, Matty,” her response climbed several decibels as he ground into her, the pleasure had her begging to assure any of his needs and so she tried. “I need you. I always will. I need you to fill me, stretch me so good so I feel you everywhere I go.” 

Her arousal began to leak out of her, coating the underside of his cock while he rocked against her as if it was the very last thing she could have possibly told him. 

“Please,” she gasped again as the tip of him caught wishing her folds, “More,” she whined. “All of you. Matt, I need,  _ ah _ !”

She knew she shouldn’t have begged him to, that there were so many other methods he could have taken with her, but her body throbbed for his touch, for him...there was no way going one more second without being full of her man would have worked for her… for them. 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” they both cursed at the same time. 

“You feel so good,” she moaned in his ear, “stretch me so good, ah,” she sighed as he sheathed the rest of him into her to the hilt. The feeling, the weight of him felt amazing and she would be sure to tell him through panting breaths, if ever she got a chance. 

Matt did his fucking best not to move too soon, but if he didn’t he was going to come. He wanted to the second his tip met her pretty folds but that wouldn’t have ended well. Not for him at least. That would have been one of the worst feelings of his life, but he couldn’t explore that now. He was far too had and had been given so many invitations to come in, he was going to stay in as long as he could, and then, if she still wanted him like he thought she did, he’d give her everything.

“You can,” she held him tighter with both her arms and legs, “you can move now.” Rey willed him on with the rock of her hips begging for him to take her at his pace. 

“Oh baby,” he groaned, his large hands holding her hips in place against the wall were the only part of him not trembling just yet. 

The both of them watched between them as he pulled nearly all the way out of her only to disappear quickly back inside of her making the pair moan deeply. 

Rey wanted to touch him everywhere, the frevorant need for him to just let himself go was the only thing on her mind. 

A few more beautifully deep thrusts later whatever was hypnotizing him to keep that painfully slow pace snapped. Matt’s pace intensified, pounding her hard against the wall. So hard, she was sure she’d have a dent there at the end of this at the very least but walls don’t matter, not when her gorgeous boyfriend was banging her mercilessly against it.

There’s no room for words, only the sounds of their lovemaking, his body slapping harshly against hers. His grunts and sure strength kept her suspended while he fucked up into her, coupled with the delicious way his body slapped against her clit was enough to push her over. 

“ _ Ah _ ,” Rey cried out again trying to ride out her pleasure, his lower abdomen still lightly kissing her over sensitized nub. 

“ _ Rey?”  _ Matt asked, unsure if he should let go. “No condom...had… one,” he ground out. His eyes rolled back into his head at the feel of her pulling him closer. 

“Pill,” she murmured, falling slack in his arms. “Come, Matthew.”

Matt’s breaths sounded like he was gulping down air desperately, just to keep the pace he’d started. His eyes flicked down to his girl, happily sated in his arms, and all he could think while he found his release was that they were only getting started.

___

12 door

—-

By the time Matt left the night before he managed to promise that he wouldn't tomorrow.

_ “Besides, I won't be able to know for sure if you still sleep walk if I don't sleep over,” he smirks.  _

_ “I’ll have you know I do not… I only pretended so that I could sneak off into your room and you know it.” _

Matt’s lips turned up in a smile at the memory before he wraps the next item and staging it ever so elegantly on her plate so she couldn't quite miss this one. 

“I don't know,” he hears her say to an empty hallway. His brow furrows trying to figure out if she’s on the phone or with someone. Immediately he nods to his inner voice that this was far better than wrapping himself in a box. What with her friends usually following her wherever she went and all. The last thing he needed was to have any of them follow her home and ruin this for him. 

He hears the keys stress the keyhole turning it roughly when she defeatedly adds, “I hadn’t spotted anything or found Matt anywhere.” She paused, no doubt to prop her phone between her shoulder and her ear as she pushed through her entryway adding, “I just hope he’s okay.”

His heart sung hearing her say that. Meaning so much to her had been surreal - never in his life did he think he could ever belong to someone like her. But they did. They were soulmates - the definition of them, he nodded to himself.

His simple movement called her attention to him. 

Rey’s phone slipped from her cheek, whispering on it’s decent, “Found him.”

Neither jumped at the sound of the crashing phone, only rushing toward the other, relief leaving her lips as they collided. 

“I thought something happened to you. Where were you today?”

Matt’s heartbeat faster answering her the best he could. “I got here right after my shift ended,” he stepped back with her still in his arms to show her the finished product. 

“You came home to make us dinner?” she whispered.

Home.

“Yes...I came home,” he repeated.

Dinner would not go forgotten. He knew this but as they moved, he was sure it’d find the oven to be reheated all the same. 

_ Home _ … he smiled.

_ Rey was indefinitely home. _

___

13 door

____

Rey’s days and nights begin to blur together in simply the best way. Matt’s there for her, smiling on the phone, texting throughout the day, talking to her as if he needed her to simply get through the day. He’s shown her the sunrise up at the castle, how wonderful the villages are below it, the people, the livestock… all of it. 

It’s lovely, really… but there’s nothing quite as wonderful as when he looks at her. His warm, chocolate brown eyes are just so inviting, she feels the current building around her, building with hope that he’d be near, that he’d just come home and stay. Rey found she didn't need the world. She didn’t need luxury… she just needed him. 

“Home soon?” she muttered her question, knowing fully well it’d only just barely made it to lunch time.

“Home now,” he replied, his voice sounded both in front of her and behind. 

“What?” she asked. 

“How about we pick up lunch?” he asked, surprising her by capturing her hand with his. 

Again her phone dropped, this time on the carpet below her, thankfully. One more might have it crack the screen, and oh how that would put her back… but all she could do was spin toward him with her happiest smile and agree. 

“Lunch sounds fantastic!”

——

14 door

____

Food became the only thing she looked in terms of the doors he laid out for her, and Matt seemed to notice marking her next door early in the morning where he knew she’d see. The only trouble was there was no place to hide. Matt wanted the chance to take her by surprise like he had the last few times. It made her response mean that much more. Not that he didn’t think she’d enjoy this or have some way to show her affections because she always seemed to, just… 

“Matt?” Her voice stunned him from his thoughts. 

“Hey…”

“Why’d you leave so early? I thought this was your late night? Isn’t that what you said?” Her questions seemed strained when her arm wrapped around her neck. 

“Well, yeah.”

“You could have stayed, you know,” she said, sounding distraught for a fleeting moment, then shook her head. “We don’t have to do this all month long, Matt. You’re all I could ever want. Everything you’re doing is just so over the top like you’re trying to break a record or something and all...all of it has been wonderful, but all I’ve ever needed is us.”

Matt nodded dumbly at her, was she saying she didn't want this anymore?

Rey sighed, “I didn’t mean to deflate your balloon, Matt. Please don’t take it like that. I-“ her eyes caught on the big red wrapped door behind them, finding the tell tale bow and number fourteen attached to it. “What did you have planned this morning?”

“Well, I mean… the slopes are usually clear now until breakfast. I thought we could go for a morning…”

“In all the years we’ve been here, i’ve never had the nerve to try skiing or whatever the sideways one is. You want to take me to do this?” she asked carefully. 

“Snowboarding? And yeah. I mean if you want to.”

“I want to,” she nods quickly, adding, “just maybe, maybe wrap my bed next, if you’re taking requests? If it’s not too much to ask, I’d like the chance to wake up to you.”

Matt smiled goofily and nodded as he went, then captured her hand promising he noted her request. 

Not that it was in the cards just yet… but he wouldn’t argue with her. Not about  _ that _ ...

____

15 door

____

“I swear, this time will be better. No skis. No boards, just big tubes on some packed snow,” Matt said to her lifted eyebrow. “I know you love tubing. Don’t deny it just because yesterday was a disaster.”

Yesterday  _ was _ a disaster. First she tried skis, that was a “no” right out of the gates. Her constant splits doing absolutely nothing for her even out onto the bunny slopes had her turning heel no matter how many times Matt promised he did the same when he started. She didn’t need the bruises that she was sure covered her backside, not for those reasons at least - other reasons? Sure that would have been fine, but not for hitting little I’ve patches and clumpy snow from skids and hard turns the youngsters were doing. 

She hadn’t made a scene either. Simply held up her hand to pause his thoughts as she made her way down to the rentals to try again. Rey picked a snowboard next, figuring if she followed his movements she’d get it, but that wasn’t the case either. Nope. No… not the case. 

In fact, she successfully mowed over a circle of five and six year olds starting their lesson and that’s when Matt called it. 

Tubing was better anyway. Here he could hold her close and they could enjoy it together and that's exactly what they did. Several attempts down the hill that was that at least. Then - well, then she got competitive with other couples who had the same idea as they did choosing different positions which had him wondering just how much of a kid she still was. 

Matt was pleasantly surprised to find out that Rey’s heart would light up over the smallest things too. He didn't have to go big all the time, or any of it, like she said. She would take genuine joy in the way he’d lean into her, or the way the snow would fly up in their faces when they’d hit a patch of it that wasn't packed. 

He was truly amazed by her. Not that he wouldn't be, just… being with her seemed so natural that  _ being  _ with her could have had complicated things… and it didn't. 

A permanent smile formed on his lips for the rest of the night, silently promising himself to her forever.


End file.
